Like Fire and Ice
by Storming.The.Castle
Summary: Lydia Martin is fresh out of college and ready to take on the world as an editor for Hale Publishing Inc. When she ends up meeting Stiles Stilinski, the author of her first project, the two have totally different visions. Will they be able to work things out or is Lydia going to pass up the opportunity? "We're like fire and ice: incompatible and complete opposites" Future Stydia AU
1. Prologue

Lydia Martin had a briefcase in one hand, a hazelnut macchiato in the other, and her heels clicked against the sidewalks as she set her eyes on the sky scraper a few blocks down. Her chin was up and not even the pollution of the great city could bother her because today was the day she started her first official work as an editor for Hale Publishing Inc.

She had fought her way to the top from the very beginning. As a young teenager, Lydia had a passion for writing. It began as an online hobby but eventually an eleventh grade independent writing assignment made it into something else entirely. Her english teacher fell in love with the way she wrote and insisted she write for the school newspaper. There wasn't much to lose in the opportunity, Lydia was already the head of her school's Mu Alpha Theta members. She became a double-threat and in no time her early admissions letter to Stanford University was in her mailbox.

College hadn't exactly been easy, especially when she was torn between majoring in mathematics or literature her sophomore year. It was a tough decision filled with lots of schedule changes but in the end, she took on the burden of being a double major. She couldn't really say she loved one over the other, and she wanted to explore career possibilities in both fields. Needless to say, her junior year she barely left the dorm room except for her classes. But finally, after two long years of grueling work, Lydia was handed her diploma and she set off with her expectations high.

Lydia Martin was a very determined woman. She refused to take no for an answer. She set high standards for herself and would do anything and work as hard as possible to reach them. So of course, she immediately set her sights on an open editorial job in a big company in New York City. She had a timeline set out. She'd work as an editor for a few years, maybe even write a book herself before going back to grad school and getting her masters in mathematics before taking on her lifelong goal of winning a Fields Medal. The only problem was that she was against hundreds of other applicants.

However, a Stanford diploma and a bit of determination does wonders for a working woman. It came as no surprise when she was offered the editorial position at Hale Publishing, and within a week she had packed up her life in California and rented a studio apartment in the big apple, ready to take on the world.

Her first few weeks at the company brought nothing but misery as she read through awful manuscripts. They had all been done before, nothing original. Dystopian society? Please, way over done. Every romance story she read was cut and dry, each author trying way too hard to imitate Nicholas Sparks. Every detective, crime, or mystery story had content with the substance of Jello. And every supernatural story was way too theatrical with the damn claws and fangs.

Lydia had definitely begun to get discouraged when she had taken the last manuscript home for the weekend. She had been putting it off for what seemed like forever, disinterested by the undesirable title of "My Best Friend, the Werewolf". However, the title was the only terrible part. It was a combination of anything a YA book could possibly want, minus the dystopian society because face it, there's already one too many of those.

The characters were all so relatable. The protagonist was your typical geeky, run-of-the-mill teenager with a knack for sarcasm. His name was rough though, I mean really who names their character Tyler Tessersmith. Lydia continued on and discovered that despite seeming to lead a normal life, the story was a narration of the crazy adventures he had as his best friend became a werewolf. As the exposition wore on, the supporting characters were introduced with wit and charm.

To start off with, there was his best friend, Matt Summers. He was described right off the bat as "a level-headed teen with a heart of gold who just happened to be blessed with the bite". The way the author described the relationship, she could tell the two were close and the story would centralize them.

Then there was the girl who his best friend fell in love with, but they couldn't be together. She was a hunter, and not just your average hunter, she was a werewolf hunter. Her name was Ally Silver. Albeit the cheesy, Romeo and Juliet, forbidden love aspect, it was refreshing. The huntress was described as "a spunky little brunette with a sense of purity".

There were other characters among the list but Lydia had a feeling the writer was going for a "golden trio" kind of feel.

The real story began as Tyler noticed Matt was acting strangely. Matt suddenly excelled at sports, his reflexes almost unnatural. His senses had become acutely aware - sound, smell, sight, everything. And, on the down side, his mood had decreased significantly. In the narrator's words "He was acting like a girl having major PMS outlashes, but he had the newly formed muscles to do some serious damage".

Lydia felt herself being drawn in as Matt recalled the details of helping his best friend gain control over these new found powers. She found it so original that for once, the story was not told in the hero's perspective but rather by the sidekick. It was like hearing Robin's side of the events in stead of Batman's and she loved it.

Then there were the hunters, always right on their trail. If being new to the supernatural world wasn't scary enough, try being hunted down and wanted dead, that ought to do you in. The hunters were relentless, and Tyler described many of their encounters as "close ones", but somehow the two always managed to escape before things got ugly.

The plot developed even further when the villain was introduced. The question "Who is the alpha?" served to keep the reader on their toes while at the same time indicating a clear antagonist. A list of characters had been described, all who had plenty of evidence stacked against them but even Lydia couldn't narrow it down as she searched for context clues. There were so many possibilities. And even then, Lydia didn't really want to make assumptions. After all, in fictional crime stories, it's never the first suspect.

Tyler and Matt found themselves in a sticky situation. Here they were, just two guys trying to make the lacrosse team, but things just couldn't work out for them. There was a killer werewolf on the loose, a girl had popped out of nowhere town and unintentionally stole one of their hearts, hunters with big guns and deadly weapons were after them, and oh yeah, they still had chemistry homework.

Lydia loved it, she loved it a lot. She stayed up all through the night that Friday with a red pen in hand and before she knew it the sun was peeking out over the skyline. She didn't care she had spent the whole night editing, she was deeply satisfied. Not only did she have her first actual chance at the company, but she had found a story that was _good._

It was nothing short of a charming story that would be a smash hit in the YA category. It had anything you could ask for without being over-bearing. The author was clearly very intelligent and cunning. Their word choice had been amazing and their style was simply unique. She felt a connection to the writer as she read it front to back. The narrator was not much different from Nick Carraway if she thought about it. He was both within, and without. He observed from the outside yet he was very much a participant in the story. It was just the story she'd been looking for.

She didn't hesitate to email her boss, Derek Hale. She insisted she had found a worthwhile story and emailed him the online version (the ones without her edits and revision and marginal notes). She awaited his reply anxiously and by Sunday night, it was officially set. The author would fly in next week and they would discuss the possibility of publishing the piece. Lydia Martin had officially reached step one in her plan for success.

Which brings her to where she was at that Monday morning. She was staring at the skyscraper that she worked in, feeling more confident than ever. She had waited all week for this. She was minutes away from not only beginning the journey of her literary career but from meeting such a clever and intellectual being. She had thought about what he would be like the whole week and she couldn't help but get a little carried away with her imagination.

She shook her head as she raised her caffeinated beverage to her lips and sipped. The coffee immediately made her focus back on her goal '_This is it Lydia. Show them what you've got.' _And with that she click-clacked her way down the rest of the sidewalk and towards the glass doors of the Hale Publishing Company. Nothing could stop Lydia Martin today.

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**A.N.- So that was the prologue of Like Fire and Ice. I hope you guys liked it. PLEASE let me know how it was. I don't get much feedback for my Stydia stuff so I want to know if anyone is actually enjoying it:) Thank you so much for reading I really hope you liked it, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Oh and I'll fix any errors tomorrow it's like midnight so I didn't edit much**

**P.S.- Don't worry Derek, Jackson, and more will all come up in due time. And Stiles will be introduced in the next chapter! **


	2. Chapter 1

**A.N.- First of all I'd like to thank **_ok2016_**, **_A Lady of Time_**, and **_CharmedGirl92_ **for their signed reviews. Sorry for the wait but here's the first official chapter! Enjoy!**

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Lydia walked through the front doors with confidence. Her walk was firm and determined, a small smile gracing her features as she greeted the secretary in the lobby. She took careful steps toward the elevator, trying to keep her excitement at a minimum as she glided through the doors and pressed the button for Mr. Hale's floor. Her office was on the third floor and board meetings were held on the fifth so she'd never had any reason to go higher than that. She felt her heart quicken as the doors shut and the elevator lurched upwards.

She sipped her macchiato as she watched the floor numbers tick by. The hazelnut tasted better than usual, but Lydia knew it was most likely because she was in a better mood than usual. She had only been at the firm for a few months and here she was, on her way up to Derek Hale's office. Of course, she figured she'd catch a break at the company in her first two or three years, but it hadn't even been a year and she already had such a good shot.

As the elevator approached the floor, she thought about how hard she had worked for this. She had memorized exactly what she wanted to say. '_The title could use some work and so could some of the names. There were some minor errors to fix, and overall it could improve a little in organization but it was very promising and she was looking forward to working on the project.'_

The doors opened and she snapped right back into focus mode as she entered the floor. It was just like the lobby, to her surprise, except this receptionist was very... different. She had blond hair that had been curled and her brown eyes were defined by thick makeup. She wore a black leather jacket and Lydia could see her cheetah patterned heels from under the desk. She was dressed to kill, evidently beautiful, and she knew it too by the look on her face when she greeted Lydia.

"Lydia, right? Mr. Hale is expecting you. His office is the second door on the left. I'm Erica, by the way." She said with a smirk before tossing her hair back over her shoulder and looking down at her desk again. Lydia was confused by the whole exchange but nonetheless she turned on her heel and walked down the hall until she reached the second door on the left. Sure enough, **DEREK HALE** was engraved on a name plate that was nailed to the door.

Lydia reached for the handle and took a deep breath. This meeting was the first step into her future. It was now or never, make it or break it... you get the drift, it was a lot of pressure. She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. "Okay Lydia, just walk in there and be confident. You've got this." She whispered to herself. She opened her eyes as she pushed the handle down and the door swung open to reveal a man sitting at a big desk.

He must've been only a few years older than her because he looked quite young to run a publishing company. He glanced up and Lydia could see all his features. He totally had the whole rugged thing going for him, from his facial hair to the loose way his tie hung around his neck. His hair was dark and despite the fact he wore a pair of glasses, the green hue of his eyes were still shockingly vibrant. She couldn't tell if they were hazel or green, but either way they were still staring at her, waiting for her to come in.

"Ms. Martin, you're just on time. Have a seat, please." He said, gesturing to the two chairs placed in front of his desk. Lydia realized she had froze the minute she stepped in the doorway and hurried to sit down. '_So much for confidence'_ She thought to herself as she looked around the office. It was pretty much bare except for the desk, the two chairs, and the bookshelf in the corner by the window. "The writer should be here soon, he flew in from California last night. I have to say though, I am surprised. I believe you are one of the youngest editors we have here at the company and for you to find a piece like this in the short amount of time you've been here, well... it's quite impressive." He said, looking at her. Lydia noticed he seemed to speak with a tone of intelligence, his words were all enunciated and his way of speaking really flowed. No wonder he was the boss of a big, successful, publishing company.

"Thank you sir." Lydia replied respectfully. She loved receiving compliments and she knew exactly how to accept them without coming off as arrogant.

"So you come from Stanford, is that correct?" She merely nodded in response. "Hmmmm, that's a very prestigious school. Your file also says you're a double major."

"Oh, yes. Mathematics and literature." He just nodded as he thought it over.

"I knew you were a good investment for the company. You're just as impressive in action as you are on paper." He said as he took off his glasses and picked up the paper he had been reading. It was her file, which included her college education.

"Thank you Mr. Hale, that means a lot." Lydia said. She wasn't used to being questioned, even if it was in a positive light. She was about to ask the name of the author when there was a loud bang as the door slammed open. Lydia whipped around to see who it was, and she was surprised.

There was a man in the door way who had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. She figured he had accidentally pushed the door open a little too hard because his eyes were big as he released the handle and his cheeks heated up. He wore a plaid button up shirt and jeans, and he had a coffee in his hands. She noticed how pale his skin looked and the moles that dotted his jaw line and his neck while he closed the door with caution. It was hard to look away as the man stumbled into the room after closing the door. The surprising part was he looked about the same age as her, maybe even a year younger. In all honesty, she was expecting someone a little less... fumbling.

"Sorry... door jammed." He muttered. "Oh, and sorry about being late. You know, traffic, jet lag..." He trailed off, plopping into the seat next to Lydia's and sipping his coffee. "So, Derek Hale right?" He asked, looking across the desk. Derek simply nodded and Lydia almost couldn't believe it. First, this man just barges right on in, then he feels there is no need for formalities when he is talking to the boss of her company, and then he doesn't even acknowledge her presence?!

"Right." Derek replied. "And this is Lydia Martin, an editor here at the company." The man (if you can call him that) looked over at her.

"Oh, I guess I didn't see you there. Stiles Stilinski." He said, sticking his hand out. Lydia swallowed the bit of judgment she held against the guy and shook his hand. It was then that she noticed his hands were really quite large as the one engulfed her tiny hand before she pulled away and turned back to Derek.

"Mr. Stilinski, Lydia here is the one who found your manuscript and forwarded it to me and I must say I'm glad she did." He explained. Lydia noticed Stiles's expression turn into a quizzical one and she felt her anger build up even more. She didn't know whether he was skeptical over her being an editor, or her being a female, or if the eyebrow raise was for something else entirely, but she just felt angry. Somehow, Derek didn't notice the tension and continued. "So, naturally if you agree to work with our company, you would work with her on your piece."

"What do I have to work on? I already wrote it, right?" Stiles asked. It took almost everything Lydia had not to gape and roll her eyes. She felt left out of the conversation and decided that was as good a time as ever to join.

"Well, you're story is good, but we need to edit it and make it great. You know, take out the errors, fix up the rough patches and what not." Lydia explained her job to him, trying not to snap. For an author he really didn't know how to go about the whole publishing part.

"So, basically you're going to change it." He said, his expression turning into a frown as he crossed his arms. "I don't want to change what I wrote." He said, shaking his head. It was almost childish, really. As frustrated as Lydia already was, she knew this book was going to be the book, so she exhaled and continued on.

"Well we wouldn't change the story itself Mr..." She trailed off forgetting the mouthful that was his last name.

"Stilinski."

"Right. We would just fix some stuff. The content and plot and characters will all stay the same, it's details really. Grammatical errors, run-on sentences." She didn't think it was a hard concept to grasp. She looked over to see that he didn't seem as defensive as before.

"You mean like proof-reading?"

"Sort of, just on a bigger scale. Like instead of saying Johnny had a blue bike, you'd edit it to something like... Johnny's bike was as blue as the sky." Lydia was getting pretty tired of this. If it weren't such a good opportunity she might pass it up.

"Okay, well, what did you have in mind?" He asked quietly. Lydia opened her briefcase and pulled out her version of the manuscript and laid it on the desk for everybody to see. She watched as Stiles scoffed but she just ignored it.

"For starters, the title is a little... uninteresting. It doesn't really scream "Read me, I'm good". Second, there were just some places that had a lot of potential for detail that I think you should take another look at. It wouldn't take nearly as long as it took you to write it. We would just go through, work together and try to make the best result possible." Lydia explained. She watched the author flip through the pages and his eyes flicker across the red ink.

"There's a lot of red. Isn't red bad?" He asked, looking up at her. Lydia shook her head.

"Not necessarily. Not all of the red ink is criticism or pointers, some of it's just pointing out the good word usage or the imagery."

Mr. Stilinski still looked torn and Lydia looked over at her boss.

"Stiles, this is a process every author has gone through. I bet you that each and every one of your books has gone through an editor before being published. You have a vision, and we not only understand that but we also respect that. We want your vision to come true but in order for your book to move on, it has to be edited first. Lydia went through a lot of different manuscripts to find this and once she emailed it to me, I knew we had a promising piece of work on our hands. If you agree to this, we'll make sure your book is published." Wow, her boss certainly had a way with words. She watched as he slowly caved in, but she knew he wasn't all the way there yet. For some reason he trusted everything Derek said, but once Lydia said something she had to say it another five times to get through to him.

"Lydia is a great editor Stiles. We chose her out of almost a thousand applicants for this position, and she graduated Stanford with magna cum lade. Take it from me, you're not gonna find much better." Derek said, leaning back in his chair and rolling the sleeves up on his shirt. She felt relief flood her veins as he gave in and nodded.

"Alright. I'm on board." He said. Lydia felt the corners of her lips tug into a small smile as Derek grinned.

"Good choice. If I were you guys, I'd set up a work schedule. Lydia, just email me on updates. I hope to see you soon." Derek said as he stood up, opening the door for the two. Lydia grabbed her briefcase stood up, walking out of the office.

"Thank you Mr. Hale. I'll keep you informed on anything important." She said professionally as she exited the office and headed for the elevator. She waited in the main area as Stiles talked to Derek a little longer.

"So, how'd it go? That author was pretty cute, huh?" Lydia turned around to see Erica with an apple in hand, smirking over the desk in her direction.

"It went okay." Lydia said cautiously. There was something about her that made Lydia a bit uneasy.

"I have to say, I don't see many women up here. Good job Stanford girl." Erica said with a smirk. Lydia was about to reply when Stiles appeared from the hallway.

"So, about this work schedule..." He said, reaching behind his head and scratching the back of his neck. Lydia was already two steps ahead of him, figuratively and literally as she walked towards the elevator.

"My office is on the third floor. We'll discuss it there." She said firmly as she pressed the button with the 3 on it. As the doors closed she watched Erica smirk at her before taking a bite out of her apple. Lydia didn't know what to think of the secretary. She wasn't rude or snarky in her comments. It was more like she was... testing Lydia. Erica was trying to see what kind of a person she was, and she thought it was rather smart.

As Lydia's thoughts travelled away from the intriguing blonde secretary, they focused on the heavy, uncomfortable silence that filled the elevator. She turned to observe Stiles.

He was staring up at the numbers as they slowly went down, his hands leaning on the rail and his fingers moving at a constant speed. Lydia found it kind of strange how... frenetic he seemed to be.

"You went to Stanford, huh?" He asked suddenly, his eyes looking down at her.

"Yeah, double major." She said. She wasn't one to brag but she was dealing with someone who seriously doubted her. She needed all the ammunition she had.

"Wow, a double major and honors? Sounds like a full plate."

"It sure was." At this point he looked back up at the numbers as the _ding! _sounded and the doors slid open to reveal the familiar entrance that was her floor level. Lydia walked out and right up to the receptionist.

"Hey Kira, how's it going?" She had gotten close to the small Japanese girl during the time she had been at the company. Said girl looked up and smiled.

"Oh hi Lydia. There are some manuscripts laying around here somewhere." She mumbled, looking through the stacks of paper in the mailboxes behind her.

"Oh, I don't need any. I'm working on a project." Lydia said, glancing beside her at Stiles. Kira whipped back around in her chair and noticed Stiles for the first time.

"Oh, I see." She said with a small polite smile. Lydia loved how Kira was still the same kind and thoughtful girl she had been before she came to the city. She didn't let the hustle and bustle change her like everybody else did, and neither did Lydia. I guess that's why they got along so well.

"I was just wondering if you can call in and order a visitor's badge for him. He'll be here a lot." Lydia asked.

"No problem." Kira said, nodding as Lydia turned and walked towards her office.

"Thanks Kira!" She said over her shoulder before walking down the hall to her office. "So, when are you available to work?" She asked, turning to Stiles.

"Well, I guess whenever. I kind of want to get this done as soon as possible." He said. She reached into her briefcase for the keys and unlocked her office door, opening it for Stiles to enter.

"Really? Your first book and you're just gonna rush through it?" She asked as she shut the door and went to sit in her chair. Stiles sat across from her and leaned back with no response but a shrug and a look that said 'why not?' "Okay, well I work five days a week. Monday through Thursday I'm here eight to four but on Friday I'm here nine to five. If you want to do work on the weekend, I have a studio apartment in Manhattan." Lydia explained as she got out a large dry erase board. It had everything work related on it, and this was the most related to work thing yet.

"Well, I work Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays. So, I'll come on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hopefully I can get to your house some Saturdays too so I can get back home sooner rather than later." Stiles said.

"You already have a job here? Didn't you just get here like last night?" She asked incredulously. The city was known for its opportunities but that was pretty much unreal.

"Yeah, I know some people. Look, I'll come twice a week, alright? And we'll edit my book or whatever." He said, standing up and heading for the door.

"Wait, you don't want to start now? Because I had some th-"

"Can't. I'm already late for work. See ya." He cut her off and walked out the door before she could even protest.

Lydia slumped in her chair and groaned as she put her head in her hands. This was already a disaster. As far as she could tell, this guy was far from interested in having a book published. He just wanted to "get it done and over with". What kind of attitude is that? She for one wanted to take her time with the story. Her career depended on this, and she knew his did too. How could he treat this with such trivial manner? He spent how long on this book? She just couldn't believe it. She exhaled in frustration as she tried to reason with herself.

Something about Stiles Stilinski just got to her. She couldn't tell what it was, the way he treated _her, _or the way he treated people in general. But she was sure of one thing. It was going to be a long process in editing this damn book.

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**A.N.- Okay, that was the first official chapter. Nothing big, just some introductions and yadda yadda yadda. Trust me, they may not have bickered yet, but there will be bickering. And fighting. Of course they won't agree. You'll see. Well, thank you guys for reading this, I hope it was worth it. Any feedback is greatly appreciated:)**


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